Associated Press, Ja. 1, 2003
http://www.azcentral.com/
A baby said to be the first human clone has gone home with her mother, a cloning company says.
The baby, born Thursday and nicknamed Eve, went home Monday, Clonaid spokeswoman Nadine Gary said. The company, which is linked to a sect that believes space aliens created life on Earth, has refused to say where her home is or where Eve was born.
The unidentified mother is a 31-year-old American, Clonaid officials said at a news conference last week in Hollywood, Fla. A lawyer in Florida, meanwhile, asked a judge Tuesday to appoint a guardian for the baby, saying that Clonaid is trying to commercially exploit the child and that she needs specialized medical treatment.
In documents filed in Broward County Circuit Court, attorney Bernard F. Siegel said that if the judge determines the baby is in danger, she should be turned over to state care. Siegel admits in the documents that he does not know if the baby is in Florida, but argued that the court has jurisdiction because Clonaid held its news conference in the state last week. No hearing date has been set.
Siegel, a sports and entertainment lawyer in Miami, said he had “no particular ax to grind” and was trying to act in the child’s best interest.
DNA samples are to be taken soon from the baby and the mother for testing to show whether Eve is a clone of the woman.
Clonaid, which declines to reveal where its facilities are, was founded in the Bahamas in 1997 by the man who founded the Raelian religious sect. The man, Rael, says he learned about the origin of life on Earth from a visitor from outer space. He says he views cloning as a step toward reaching eternal life.